Indian Navy inducts handmade ancient stitched ship INSV Kaundinya

The Indian Navy formally inducted a handmade stitched ship, INSV Kaundinya, inspired by a 5th-century CE painting of the Ajanta Caves. The Indian Naval Ship Vessel (INSV) Kaundinya was inducted in a ceremony hosted by the Indian Navy at its Karwar Base in Karnataka on 21 May 2025.

The Union Minister for Culture, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, was the Chief Guest of the ceremony.

What is a Stitched Ship?

A Stitched Ship is a type of sea-going vessel made of wood. Its planks are stitched together with coir as ropes and natural resins for waterproofing. This method of shipbuilding was used in ancient India to build sea-going vessels. Project INSV Kaundinya was an attempt to revive and preserve the Indian traditional shipbuilding craft and the rich maritime heritage of India.

About Project INSV Kaundinya 

In July 2023, the Union Ministry of Culture, the Indian Navy, and M/s Hodi Innovations signed an agreement to build a ship based on a painting depicted in the Ajanta Caves. The ship was to be made using the traditional method of shipbuilding through stitching with square sails and wooden steering oars.

Role of the Culture Ministry 

• It fully funded the project.

Contribution of the Indian Navy 

• The Indian Navy was the lead agency responsible for conceptualising and executing the project.
• It was responsible for designing, constructing and solving the technical problems associated with the project, as there were no remnants of the ancient ship or blueprint.
• The Indian Navy collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to conduct model testing to validate the vessel’s hydrodynamic behaviour at sea.
• The Indian Navy will also operate the ship for its voyage across the oceans to prove its seaworthiness.
• The first voyage of INSV Kaundinya will be from Gujarat to Oman, crossing the Arabian Sea.

Role of M/s Hodi Innovations

• The M/s Hodi Innovations company was responsible for constructing the ship at its shipyard in Goa.
• The ship was launched in the sea in February 2025 in Goa at the M/s Hodi Innovations shipyards. 
• After its sea trial, it was formally inducted into the Indian Navy as INSV Kaundinya.

Artisans who built the Ship 

• A team of skilled artisans from Kerala, led by master shipwright Babu Sankaran,  built the ship using wooden planks, coir ropes and natural resins. It took them several months to construct the ship. 

About Ajanta Caves 

The Ajanta Caves are an ancient Buddhist rock-cut architecture dedicated to Buddha and the Buddhist religion.

The caves were carved out of a vertical cliff above the left bank of the river Waghora in the hills of Ajanta.

It is located in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra.

There are thirty caves, including the unfinished ones. 

The caves are chaityagrihas (sanctuaries), and the rest are sangharamas or viharas (monasteries) for Buddhist monks.

It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.